Lifted Up On Lovely Wings
by teamabel
Summary: A sort-of Mortal Instruments Fanfic - Bree Morgan's boyfriend Jackson Fletcher has been hiding a secret, or rather two. When they are revealed, Bree's whole life is turned upside-down. Will Bree and Jackson break through and become more than the pawns that they're used as?


**Lifted Up on Lovely Wings**

**Preface - Bree's POV**

I ran. Ran for the simple joy of running, of being free. The lush green grass beneath my bare feet felt like fluffy clouds as I flew by. My hair blew back behind me in the wind. I laughed, glad to be free enough to run.

Fingers twined with mine, warm and reassuring, and I was running with Jackson. His ink-black hair was swept aside as he ran, his sapphire-blue/sea-green eyes blazing intently.

He leaned down and swept me up in his arms, spinning me around in circles. He collapsed in the grass, pulling me down with him.

Jackson's arms embraced me, pulling my body against his. He buried his face in my hair as I pressed my cheek to his chest, and we rested together in perfect harmony.

The moment could've lasted forever, but as I would soon find out, everything had to come to an end.

A dark, eerie voice drifted ominously though the valley like dark fog, laughing menacingly. _You silly mortals, _it hissed. _You are utterly defenseless. This world is mine for the taking. _

Jackson's arms stiffened around me, pulling me to my feet as he stood. He pushed me slightly behind him as if to protect me from the voice, but it was everywhere.

Suddenly, everything around us began to change. The warm spring breeze turned bitter and cold, whipping harshly around us. The grass turned brown and limp; the flowers faded and withered; the trees' leaves darkened and fell to the ground in the chaotic winds.

The voice laughed again. _This is but a glimpse of the things to come... _

Everything sped up – the trees cracked and fell to the ground with a sound like a roll of lightning, the land turned scorched and barren.

Jackson gasped. His hands on my waist were burning to the point of pain. For the first time ever, I flinched away from him.

Worry for me flashed in his eyes as he looked down at his hands, and then his blue-green irises turned silver. His head fell back, his shoulders arched.

The ground rumbled, and I lost my balance. I crumpled, trying desperately to stay on my feet. Once they were firmly planted, I glance up at Jackson.

He was glowing soft silver, and as I watched, silver-white wings unfurled from his back, blasting me backwards. The valley was replaced with life as Jackson rose, hovering ten feet off the ground.

His wings beat softly, stirring my hair. His eyes, still flashing silver, seemed to look right through me.

Clouds billowed across the sky, and thunder rumbled. Lightning arced down and struck Jackson, and he fell from the sky.

_"JACKSON!"_ I cried, surging forward. The renewed grasses tangled between my toes and around my ankles as if holding me back.

It seemed like millions of years later when I reached Jackson. He was flat on his back, his wings gone. His shirt was in tatters and smoking.

"Jackson?!" I said urgently, shaking his arm none too gently. "Jackson..."

He stirred, his eyelids fluttering. When he opened his eyes, they were his normal, deep-sea blue-green.

As I watched, realization dawned in his eyes. It quickly turned to horror. "Did I...?"

"Wait... you _knew?_" My mouth fell open. "How long?"

"Since I was ten. It's... a curse. My whole family." He met my eyes, and I saw a lot of emotions flash through his - guilt, disappointment, shame.

"Your whole family - are angels? You - you could pas it on?" I asked brokenly.

Jackson saw the question in my eyes and nodded solemly. "Part of the curse, it's that we... fall," he laughed darkly, "For someone who has the ability to pass it on."

"So you only love me for - for my _kids?_" I asked incrediously.

"No! Bree, I love you for _you, _not some stupid curse. I would never - I would never do that to you."

"I know you wouldn't, Jackson, and I trust you, but... how come you didn't tell me?"

"I was trying to protect you from it. I guess... I was trying to live as normal a life as I could with you, without the curse handing over my - our heads - like a death sentence."

"It's not a -" I started to protest, but he cut me off.

"I didn't want you to feel obligated to - to do anything. I wanted us to be _us._"

"Jackson, this doesn't change anything. I still love kyou. And - and I don't feel _obligated._"

"Bree..."

I cut him off with a kiss, knocking him back against the grass. He kissed me back without any hesitation, but lightly, as if he might break me.

"Jackson, you aren't going to hurt me just because I know. You didn't hurt me before." I said, my mouth moving over his.

I sat up, leaning back. Jackson sat up beneath me, his hands lightly resting on my waist. His fingers played with the bottom of my tank top, brushing my skin. I gasped.

"What did I do?" Jackson asked, jerking his hands away.

I yanked my tank top up a few inches, revealing the angry red marks on my waist - perfect imprints of Jackson's fingers, where he'd held me seconds before he'd started glowing silver.

Jackson's eyes filled with guilt. "I'm sorry -"

"Jackson, it's fine; you couldn't help it." I reassured him.

"Let me see if I can..." He placed his fingertips on the red marks as lightly as he could, closed his eyes, and seemed to concentrate really hard.

As I watched, the slim red blotches began to disappear from my waist - and reappear on Jackson's arms, before fading to faint pink spots and then little white scars.

"How - ? Angel powers?"

Jackson nodded. "We can hurt, but we can also heal."

He watched me for a second, waiting for my reaction to that.

I smiled. "That's... amazing. Good and bad."

"That's what I love about you, Bree," Jackson said, smiling crookedly back.

"What? Everything?"

"True. But you're always so... understanding. And comforting."

"If anyone needs comforting, it's both of us. Not individually, but as a couple."

Jackson quirked an eyebrow. "Couples' counceling?"

I laughed, which got Jackson to laugh, too.

A thought occured to me, and I frowned. "What about that voice? Do you know about that, too?"

Jackson sighed. "It's a demon - a minion of _the _demon."

"The devil?" I scrunched up my face in confusion.

"Sadly, yes. But what worries me more than his appearance it that he chose to make us his pawns."

_One dangerous game of chess, _I thought to myself. Out loud, I said, "He made you... 'turn angel?'"

"Yes - he made me reveal my secret. Well, not him specifically; his demon buddies. And if my secret's out, I guess it's time I told you the whole truth."

"The whole truth?"

"Do you know what the Nephilim are?"

**Ch. 1 Bree's POV**

I'd heard of Nephilim more than a couple times - I practically knew the few passages in the Bible that mentioned them by heart.

They were the children of the sons of God - angels - and the daughters of men. They supposedly fought demons and were the good guys, but some legends said they themselves were demons, born from sin.

So it didn't come as a surprise, really, when Jackson - the angel - mentioned Nephilim. What surprised me was that he said _I _was Nephilim.

"It makes sense, Bree - your dad and your mom never married; your dad left before you were born and never returned. You've done some things no one can explain. I'm surprised that your mom hasn't told you yet. Maybe she didn't even know..." he trailed off, speculating.

"Why wouldn't my mom know? I mean, if she - if she was involved with this guy, wouldn't he tell her?" My voice rose steadily until I was nearly shouting, my voice echoing harshly through Jackson's Jeep.

"Bree, think. _I _almost didn't tell you. Can't you see why he might not have wanted to tell your mom - a _human?" _Jackson sighed, reaching one hand out to me and wrapping his fingers with mine. "It's not unusual for an angel - especially an immortal one, as your father probably is - to have an... intimate relationship with a human, and not tell her."

"So it's accepted?"

"Bree, that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that it's not surprising. I figured it out when I was fourteen, Bree. I just couldn't tell you, or you'd think I was crazy. And I couldn't have _shown _you, either, or you'd have run away."

"Not true! I would have loved you nevertheless, even three years ago. You're still Jackson to me. Being an angel, it's just part of who you are." I leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, resting my head against his shoulder. My fingers absently traced the little white scars that still decorated his arms, running over the perfect imprints of his own fingers.

Love was confusing enough when I thought I was just a regular human, and my boyfriend was a human, if not better than regular.

Now, after finding out that my boyfriend, whom I've been dating for four years, is an angel, and I'm Nephilim, love just got a whole hell of a lot more complicated.

Jackson decided to sleep over that night.

It wasn't uncommon for one of us to spend the night at the other's house - Jackson's mom knew he was smart enough not to do anything more than kiss me; and my mom, who had had me when she was barely eighteen, had drilled into me the sacred rule since I was ten. Plus, she always said Jackson was 'a darling angel' whenever he came over. (Oh, the irony...)

My mom owned Morganwing Airlines, which means she got a lot of money every month, and besides that she was a famous lawyer. Even though she traveled a lot, we had a fancy-shmancy permanent house that I pretty much hated.

The only rooms upstairs were my bedroom and my bathroom, which meant both were pretty big. The walls, carpeting, furniture, and other such things were all pale pink or lavender colored. The bathroom had a shower that could easily fit three or more people and a big counter full of expensive, top-notch make up that I rarely wore.

Jackson relaxed in the middle of my huge bed like it was his home, flipping through the channels on my flat-screen TV. "I can see why you hate this place. It doesn't feel like home. It feels like a colorful prison."

"That's why I like going over to your place. That actually feels like home, as long as I'm with you." I walked over and sat uncomfortably on the edge of the bed. I could barely stand to sit on it, much less sleep in it. It was too... vast, to open. It swallowed me up.

Jackson wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me back against him on the bed, kissing the top of my head. "Always," he murmured. "I'll always be here, always protect you."

"Does that mean you're my guardian angel?" I asked jokingly.

"Always," Jackson repeated, pulling me closer and kissing me. Wrapped up in each other's embrace, we fell asleep together.


End file.
